Creations was started in 2010 to provide a friendly venue for artists, crafters and designers from the Colchester area to display their work and sell to the public. Sellers are welcomed whether they are new, and looking to sell their work for the first time, or are more experienced. The aim of Creations is to showcase and promote high quality handmade products from talented designers and makers.

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Monday, 20 September 2010

Meet the stallholders...

Have you always been a 'crafty' person - how did you start making things to sell?

As far back as I can remember I have always been interested in arts and crafts. I used to spend hours drawing and sketching as a child.

I practise my lifelong interest in art in various media. I am trained in bakery and sugar craft and have made a number of wedding cakes, including my own, and other celebration cakes using both the Australian method and more traditional royal icing styles. My decorative methods include painting directly onto the icing as well as constructing 3D models.

I enjoyed cross stitch for many years but painting is now my main art form. I do paint on canvas but wood is my favourite medium with themes inspired by the countryside. I have sold these crafts at a few local craft, school fairs and online with good feedback which has encouraged me to continue.

Tell us a bit about what you make...

In the last few years I have developed an interest in painting on wood. Its texture complements my designs which are often inspired by East Anglian flora and fauna. I hand paint my own designs on wooden items of various sizes, finishing each with a varnish to preserve the work.

Producing art on Birchwood lace bobbins is a new interest. Getting the requisite detail of a fruit, flower, bird or feather onto such a tinysurface is a very challenging proposition. I sell bobbins individually, in pairs or sets of four, usually according to a theme. I am always open to new subject ideas and commissions.

All my work is hand painted. I never use transfers etc. It therefore follows that everthing I make is unique. Even if I were to try to produce two truly identical designs there would be subtle differences between them. Very subtle perhaps, but present nevertheless.